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The Laura Flanders Show — Society & Culture
The Laura Flanders Show

Award winning host, author and journalist Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people from the world of politics, business, culture and social movements. The show explores actionable models for creating a better world by reporting on the people and movements driving systemic change. We spotlight the solutions of tomorrow, today. The show airs on PBS stations in over 80% of the US market, and airs on 40+ community radio stations, and is available on YouTube and as a podcast. Online subscribers receive lots of video and audio web exclusives. Recent specials include “Indigenous People’s Power”, “James Baldwin: Lessons for the US”, “Building Public Trust for Public Health”, “Countering the Coup From the Grassroots Up”. Recent special guests include Representative Karen Bass, environmental activist Jane Fonda, economist Robert Reich, author/activist Naomi Klein, agrarian reformer Shirley Sherrod, novelist Arundhati Roy, economist Michael Hudson and ’Next System” theorist Gar Alperovitz.

Latest Episodes:

Jalal Sabur & Raymond Figueroa, Jr: Food, Land, and Freedom Nov 24, 2015

Show notes

Land and food has been used as a weapon to keep people of color in second class status, in this episode Laura looks at the ways it can be used as a tool for liberation. Laura speaks with Jalal Sabur & Raymond Figueroa, who are using fresh food to rebalance the scale and dig up the school to prison pipeline. Jalal Sabur is the co-founder of the Freedom Food Alliance, a collective of farmers, political prisoners, and organizers in upstate New York, and Raymond Figueroa, Jr. works with the Friends of Brook Farm, an alternatives-to-incarceration program that works with young people affected by the prison system. Also in this episode, fisherman Bren Smith is modeling a future for fishing after fish - with Kelp Farming. All that and a few words from Laura on giving thanks and food power.

The Surveillance-Industrial Complex and Columbia Prison Divestment Nov 17, 2015

Show notes

The “surveillance-industrial complex” has profound, but poorly understood impacts on our political, structural, economic, and cultural lives, says Hamid Khan, director of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, board member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Political Research Associates, and Youth Justice Coalition. Also in this episode, we meet the students that forced Columbia University to divest from private prisons. And Laura on US government spying on Black Lives Matter movement activists.

Donna Schaper & Matthew Stinchcomb: Can etsy change the world? Nov 10, 2015

Show notes

Can one of the founders of the craft website Etsy.com - valued in the billions of dollars - lead a change in the way we do business? Etsy.com is the world’s largest certified socially responsible business, and they have now launched Etsy.org, a business education program for businesspeople who want to make a better world. Laura speaks with Matthew Stinchcomb, the Vice President of Values and Impact for Etsy.com, and the founder of Etsy.org; and Donna Schaper, Senior Minister for Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and author of several books, including the upcoming The Time Famine, as well as a collaborator on Etsy.org. Also in this episode: The WORX Printing Cooperative gives a short history of unjust trade, and Laura discusses New Economy Week.

Laurie Anderson & Mohammed el Gharani: Habeas Corpus Nov 03, 2015

Show notes

Like all men held at Guantanamo Bay, Mohammed el Gharani, who was imprisoned at the age of 14, is barred from entering the USA. But American artist Laurie Anderson found a way to bring him to the states, via telepresence. Laura talks with Anderson about presence, absence and the questions raised in Anderson’s latest attention-getting performance, Habeas Corpus. We also hear from el Gharani, who was held at Guantanamo from 2002 until his release in 2009, about prison-camp solidarity, the prisoner who is his hero, and his thoughts on slavery and the Middle Passage - then and now. All that and an F Word from Laura on a long, 40 second delay.

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Avi Lewis: This Changes Everything Oct 27, 2015

Show notes

The climate crisis is our best chance to build a better world - and the people most affected by the destruction are in the forefront of coming up with alternatives. We'd better listen to them. That's the message of a new film from this week's guest, Avi Lewis, director of the new film This Changes Everything, inspired by the bestselling book by his wife Naomi Klein. Avi Lewis co-created and hosted the award-winning Al Jazeera documentary series Fault Lines, and The Big Picture on CBC Television. His first documentary, The Take, followed Argentina’s legendary movement of worker-run businesses. Also: Laura discusses women leading the charge for change around the world.

End Mass Incarceration: Bryan Stevenson Oct 20, 2015

Show notes

Mercy - more and more people are talking about it in the context of the masses of Americans incarcerated. but is mercy enough? Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, has done a lot to push this debate to the front. Also in the show - how you can be a part of EJI's history marking project. Plus a few words from Laura on the high cost of giving a cold shoulder to the poor in Hillary Clinton's neighborhood.

Tim Wise: Under the Affluence Oct 13, 2015

Show notes

How does race and racism affect in your life? Anti-racist activist and writer Tim Wise is the author of six books, most notably his highly acclaimed memoir: White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son. His latest book, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America is out this month. Also, New Orleans youth discuss how racism affects their lives. All that and a few words from Laura on security forces that stink.

Greg Grandin: Empire and Resistance in Latin America, and Beyond Oct 06, 2015

Show notes

Professor and author Greg Grandin talks about the enduring influence of Henry Kissinger's bloody and brutal foreign policy. Greg Grandin has been examining Empire in all its forms across seven books, including his latest, _Kissinger’s Shadow, _out this month. A professor of history at NYU and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Grandin writes on US foreign policy, Latin America, genocide, and human rights. He also served as a consultant to the United Nations truth commission on Guatemala. And Laura discusses war criminals in Guatemala and in the US.

Peter Frase and Boots Riley on The Future of Social Change Sep 29, 2015

Show notes

Will the future be better or worse for workers? Peter Frase says with more tech tools, there's more leisure in our future, as there should be. He also is convinced that capitalism will end. Peter Frase is an editor of the magazine Jacobin, and has a book coming out next year from Verso Press, Four Futures. Also on this episode: Part two of our interview with Boots Riley, a poet, lyricist, MC, screenwriter, activist, organizer, radical, and founder and frontman of Oakland-based hip hop group The Coup. Boots Riley was also one of the most influential voices and leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is the only known musical artist whose surveillance by intelligence agents has been exposed due to Wikileaks documents. All this, and Laura discusses war, refugees and Dick Cheney's second home.

Ellen & Rachel Meeropol and Boots Riley on Art and Resistance Sep 22, 2015

Show notes

Fighting government repression through art and action: Laura interviews Ellen and Rachel Meeropol, a mother and daughter each seeking change -- one through the litigation and one through fiction. Ellen Meeropol is the author of two novels that deal with law, justice and government surveillance. Her most recent book, On Hurricane Island, explores a fictional secret domestic detention camp for citizens. Ellen's daughter, Rachel Meeropol, is the senior staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights, where she works on prisoners’ rights, Muslim profiling, and the criminalization of dissent. These issues have affected both of their lives. Ellen’s father and mother in-law, Rachel’s grandparents, were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed by the US government as spies. Also on this episode: Part one of our interview with Boots Riley, a poet, lyricist, MC, screenwriter, activist, organizer, radical, and founder and frontman of Oakland based hip hop group The Coup. Boots Riley was also one of the most influential voices and leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is the only known musical artist whose surveillance by intelligence agents has been exposed due to Wikileaks documents. All this, and Laura takes a look back at Occupy Wall Street...and the politicians getting slandered now.

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